JPWO2012168993A1 - Production method of onion-like carbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce onion-like carbon (OLC) at low cost. In the present invention, in a DLC powder production process as a first step, a DLC powder that is a hard carbon powder is produced by a plasma CVD method using a hydrocarbon-based gas as a material gas. Subsequently, in the DLC-OLC conversion process as the second step, the DLC powder is heated with a heater in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere. Thereby, DLC powder is converted into OLC, that is, the OLC is produced. Thus, according to the present invention, since the OLC is produced using the hydrocarbon-based gas as a starting material, the OLC can be produced at an extremely low cost.

Description

  The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for onion like carbon (hereinafter referred to as “OLC”).

  Since OLC is a spherical particle having a diameter of several nm to several tens of nm, exhibits an extremely low coefficient of friction both in the air and in vacuum, and is excellent in surface pressure resistance, particularly as a solid lubricant. The application of is expected. As a method for producing such an OLC, there is a conventional method disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. According to this prior art, diamond nano powder (hereinafter referred to as “DNP”) having a diameter of 4 nm to 6 nm is produced by an impact synthesis method (explosion method). Then, this DNP is heat-treated in an inert gas atmosphere at 1600 ° C. to 1800 ° C. to produce an OLC.

JP-A-11-157818

  However, in the above-described prior art, since the starting material DNP is expensive (around 5000 yen per gram), the final target OLC is also expensive. That is, there is a problem in cost.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus capable of producing an OLC at a lower cost than conventional ones.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a first invention according to an OLC manufacturing method and a second invention according to the OLC manufacturing apparatus. Of these, the first invention is a DLC powder production process for producing DLC (Diamond like Carbon) powder by a plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method using a hydrocarbon gas as a material gas, and a DLC powder production process. And converting the DLC powder into onion-like carbon by heating the DLC powder in vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere.

  That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, OLC is produced (also referred to as “synthesis”) using a hydrocarbon-based gas as a starting material. Specifically, in the DLC powder production process, a DLC powder that is a hard carbon powder is produced by a plasma CVD method using a hydrocarbon-based gas as a material gas. In the conversion process, the DLC powder is heated in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere. Thereby, DLC powder is converted into OLC, that is, the OLC is produced.

The hydrocarbon gas includes acetylene (C ₂ H ₂ ) gas, methane (CH ₄ ) gas, ethylene (C ₂ H ₄ ) gas, benzene (C ₆ H ₆ ) gas, etc. Acetylene gas is preferred from the comprehensive viewpoints of production efficiency, cost, ease of handling, ease of procurement, safety, and the like.

  Moreover, the DLC powder preparation process may include the following plasma generation process, gas introduction process, and temperature control process. That is, in the plasma generation process, an AC discharge power is supplied to a vacuum chamber connected to a reference potential and an open container installed in the vacuum chamber as a pair of electrodes. Thereby, plasma is generated in the vacuum chamber including the inside of the container. Then, in the gas introduction process, a hydrocarbon gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber. Then, the hydrocarbon-based gas is decomposed (dissociated) by plasma, and DLC powder is produced on the surface of the container, particularly on the inner wall of the container. At this time, if the temperature in the container, that is, the production temperature of the DLC powder is too high, specifically, if it exceeds 300 ° C., hydrogen radicals and hydrogen ions, which are the decomposition particles of the hydrocarbon gas by the plasma, react with the DLC powder. Thus, the DLC powder is gasified. As a result, the production efficiency of DLC powder decreases. In order to avoid this inconvenience, the temperature in the container is controlled so that the temperature in the container does not become higher than 300 ° C. in the temperature control process.

  In addition, in the gas introduction process, a hydrocarbon-based gas is introduced into the vacuum tank via a gas introduction pipe that is insulated from the vacuum tank, and carbonization of the gas introduction pipe into the vacuum tank is performed. It is desirable that the hydrogen-based gas outlet is located in the vicinity of the opening of the container. Thereby, hydrocarbon gas is directly introduce | transduced in a container and the production efficiency of DLC powder to the inner wall of the said container improves. In addition, it is desirable that the DLC powder preparation process further includes a DC power supply process for supplying a positive potential DC power based on the reference potential to the gas introduction pipe. By providing such a DC power supply process, the gas introduction tube functions as an anode, and electrons in the plasma are drawn into the gas introduction tube. As a result, a high-density discharge, so-called hollow anode discharge, is generated around the gas introduction pipe, particularly in the vicinity of the hydrocarbon-based gas outlet of the gas introduction pipe. By generating this hollow anode discharge, the decomposition efficiency of the hydrocarbon gas is improved, and as a result, the production efficiency of the DLC powder on the inner wall of the container is further improved.

  The DC power supply process also contributes to plasma stabilization. That is, as described above, plasma is generated by supplying AC discharge power using a vacuum chamber and a container as a pair of electrodes. On the other hand, in the DLC powder production process, the DLC powder adheres not only to the surface (inner wall) of the container but also to the surface (inner wall) of the vacuum chamber. Thus, when DLC powder adheres to the surfaces of both the vacuum chamber and the container as a pair of electrodes, particularly when the DLC powder adheres to the surface of the vacuum chamber that is assumed to be maintained at a reference potential, the vacuum The function as the electrode of the tank is lowered, and the plasma becomes unstable. Here, when a DC power supply process is provided, electrons in the plasma are drawn into the gas introduction tube as the anode as described above, so that the generation of the plasma is maintained and the plasma is stabilized.

  Furthermore, the DLC powder preparation process may include a magnetic field formation process in which a magnetic field for confining plasma in the container is formed in the vacuum chamber. By providing such a magnetic field forming process, the density of plasma in the container is improved, and as a result, the production efficiency of DLC powder on the inner wall of the container is further improved.

The conversion process includes a conversion environment formation process in which the inside of the vacuum chamber is made into a vacuum or an inert gas atmosphere, and heating in which the DLC powder is heated at 700 ° C. to 2000 ° C. in the vacuum chamber in the vacuum or the inert gas atmosphere And a process. That is, it has been confirmed by experiments that the DLC powder is converted to OLC when the DLC powder is heated at 700 ° C. or higher. It was also confirmed that the higher the heating temperature of the DLC powder, the higher the conversion efficiency from the DLC powder to the OLC. Note that DLC powder heating methods include a heater heating method, an infrared heating method, a high frequency induction heating method, an electron beam irradiation heating method, a plasma heating method, and the like. Further, the DLC powder may be heated in a state of being accommodated in the above-described container, or may be heated after being transferred to another appropriate container. However, for example, if oxygen is present in the vacuum chamber during the heating of the DLC powder, the DLC powder is oxidized and gasified into carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), and the like. In order to avoid this inconvenience, a conversion environment forming process is provided before the heating process that bears the heating, that is, the inside of the vacuum chamber is set to a vacuum or an inert gas atmosphere.

  A second invention of the present invention is a method invention corresponding to the first invention, wherein a DLC powder production means for producing a DLC powder by a plasma CVD method using a hydrocarbon gas as a material gas, and the DLC powder production means. Conversion means for converting the DLC powder into onion-like carbon by heating the produced DLC powder in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere.

  In the second invention as well, acetylene gas is most suitable as the hydrocarbon-based gas.

  Further, the specific configuration of the second invention includes a vacuum chamber connected to a reference potential and an open-shaped container installed in the vacuum chamber. The DLC powder preparation means includes the following plasma generation means, gas introduction means, and temperature control means. That is, the plasma generating means uses the vacuum chamber and the container as a pair of electrodes, and supplies AC discharge power to them, thereby generating plasma in the vacuum chamber including the container. And a gas introduction means introduce | transduces hydrocarbon type gas in a vacuum chamber. Further, the temperature control means controls the temperature in the container so that the temperature in the container does not become higher than 300 ° C.

  In addition, the gas introduction means may include a gas introduction pipe that is insulated from the vacuum chamber. In this case, the hydrocarbon-based gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber through the gas introduction pipe. The gas introduction pipe is provided so that the hydrocarbon-based gas outlet into the vacuum chamber is positioned in the vicinity of the opening of the container. In addition, the DLC powder preparation means may include DC power supply means for supplying a positive potential DC power based on the reference potential to the gas introduction pipe.

  Furthermore, the DLC powder preparation means may also include magnetic field forming means for forming a magnetic field for confining plasma in the container in the vacuum chamber.

  The conversion means includes a conversion environment forming means for making the inside of the vacuum chamber a vacuum or an inert gas atmosphere, and heating for heating the DLC powder at 700 ° C. to 2000 ° C. in the vacuum chamber having the vacuum or the inert gas atmosphere. Means.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the OLC production apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the preparation procedures of OLC in the embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the preparation temperature and preparation speed of DLC powder in the DLC powder preparation process in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the picked-up image by the electron microscope of OLC produced in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the picked-up image by the electron microscope of DLC powder as a raw material just before the OLC. It is a figure which shows the XRD diffraction analysis result of the same OLC together with the analysis result of a comparative control substance. It is a figure which shows the Raman spectroscopic analysis result of the same OLC together with the analysis result of a comparative control substance.

  One embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an OLC manufacturing apparatus 10 according to this embodiment includes a substantially cylindrical vacuum chamber 12 with both ends closed. The vacuum chamber 12 is installed with a portion corresponding to one end of the cylindrical shape as an upper wall and a portion corresponding to the other end as a bottom wall. In addition, the diameter of the internal space of this vacuum chamber 12 is about 1100 mm, and a height dimension is about 1000 mm. The shape and dimensions of the vacuum chamber 12 are examples, and may be appropriately determined according to the situation. The vacuum chamber 12 is made of a metal having high corrosion resistance and high heat resistance, for example, stainless steel such as SUS304, and its wall portion is connected to a ground potential as a reference potential.

  Furthermore, an exhaust port 14 is provided at an appropriate position of the wall portion of the vacuum chamber 12, for example, a position slightly outward from the center of the bottom wall (left side in FIG. 1). The exhaust port 14 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) as an exhaust means (not shown) provided outside the vacuum chamber 12 via an exhaust pipe (not shown). The vacuum pump also functions as a pressure control unit that controls the pressure P in the vacuum chamber 12. In addition, a valve (not shown) is provided in the middle of the exhaust pipe, and this valve also functions as a pressure control means.

  And the crucible 16 as a container is arrange | positioned in the approximate center position in the vacuum chamber 12. FIG. Specifically, the crucible 16 has a substantially cylindrical shape with one end opened and the other end closed, and is arranged with the opening facing upward. The outer diameter of the crucible 16 is about 300 mm, the height dimension is about 300 mm, and the thickness dimension (wall thickness) is about 1 mm (several mm) for both the side wall and the bottom wall. The material of the crucible 16 is a high melting point material, such as molybdenum (Mo), which has conductivity and nonmagnetic properties, and has low adhesion to the DLC powder 100 described later. Of course, other high melting point materials such as tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), and graphite (C) are not limited to molybdenum. The shape and dimensions of the crucible 16 may be determined as appropriate according to the situation. In particular, the shape is not limited to a substantially cylindrical shape, and may be an opening shape such as a bowl shape or a dish shape.

  The crucible 16 is supplied with asymmetric pulse power Ep as discharge power from a pulse power supply device 18 as discharge power supply means provided outside the vacuum chamber 12. Strictly speaking, the asymmetric pulse power Ep is supplied to the vacuum chamber 12 as an anode and the crucible 16 as a cathode. The voltage mode of the asymmetric pulse power Ep is a rectangular wave whose high level voltage value is fixed to + 37V and whose low level voltage value is −37V or less, and the frequency is arbitrarily set in the range of 10 kHz to 500 kHz by the pulse power supply device 18. It is possible to adjust to. Also, the duty ratio and low level voltage value of the rectangular wave voltage can be arbitrarily adjusted by the pulse power supply device 18, and the duty ratio can be adjusted in detail by adjusting these duty ratio and low level voltage value. 50% or less, and the low level voltage value is adjusted in the range of -37V to -2000V, so that the average voltage value (DC conversion value) Vp of the rectangular voltage is arbitrarily in the range of 0V to -1000V. It can be set.

  In addition, a substantially cylindrical heater 20 that is slightly larger than the crucible 16 is provided so as to surround the periphery (side wall and bottom wall) of the crucible 16. The heater 20 is heated by supplying heater heating power from a heater heating power source (not shown) provided outside the vacuum chamber 12. When the heater 20 is heated, the temperature of the crucible 16, specifically, the temperature of the inner wall of the crucible 16 is arbitrarily controlled in the range of 100 ° C. to 2000 ° C.

  Further, a gas introduction pipe 22 is provided so as to penetrate an appropriate position of the wall portion of the vacuum chamber 12, for example, the upper wall. The gas introduction pipe 22 is made of a refractory metal such as molybdenum or tantalum, and is insulated from the vacuum chamber 12 by an insulator 24. The tip of the gas introduction tube 22, specifically the end inside the vacuum chamber 12, is located substantially at the center of the opening of the crucible 16. On the other hand, the base end of the gas introduction tube 22 is provided with an argon (Ar) gas supply source as a discharge gas supply source (not shown) provided outside the vacuum chamber 12 and an acetylene gas supply as a material gas supply source (not shown). Combined with the source. Further, in the middle of the gas introduction pipe 22 located outside the vacuum chamber 12, a flow rate adjusting means (not shown) for individually adjusting the flow rates of the argon gas and the acetylene gas flowing in the gas introduction pipe 22, for example, a mass flow controller And an opening / closing means (not shown) such as an opening / closing valve for individually opening / closing the circulation of the argon gas and acetylene gas.

  At the same time, positive potential direct current power Ea based on the ground potential is supplied to the gas introduction pipe 22 from a nozzle power supply device 26 as a direct current power supply means provided outside the vacuum chamber 12. The voltage value Va of the DC power Ea can be arbitrarily adjusted in the range of, for example, +10 V to +100 V by the nozzle power supply device 26.

  A pair of electromagnetic coils 28 and 30 as magnetic field forming means are provided outside the vacuum chamber 12 along the peripheral edges of the upper wall and the bottom wall of the vacuum chamber 12. These electromagnetic coils 28 and 30 are supplied with a DC magnetic field forming power from a magnetic field forming power supply device (not shown) provided outside the vacuum chamber 12, so that a plasma 200 described later is provided at the center in the vacuum chamber 12. A so-called mirror magnetic field is formed in the vacuum chamber 12 so that the plasma 200 is preferably confined in the crucible 16. The intensity of the mirror magnetic field can be arbitrarily adjusted within the range of 1 mT to 10 mT in the crucible 16.

  According to the OLC manufacturing apparatus 10 configured as described above, an OLC can be manufactured using acetylene gas as a starting material.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a DLC powder preparation process as a first step is first performed. In this DLC powder production process, the DLC powder 100 is produced by a plasma CVD method using acetylene gas as a material gas. Subsequently, a DLC-OLC conversion process as a second step is performed. In this DLC-OLC conversion process, the DLC powder 100 produced by the previous DLC powder production process is heated by the heater 20 described above in an argon gas atmosphere. By this heating, the DLC powder is converted into OLC, that is, the OLC is produced. Although not shown in FIG. 2, evacuation is performed as a pretreatment prior to the DLC powder production process as the first step. Then, after the conversion process as the second step, a post-process for taking out the finally completed OLC to the outside of the vacuum chamber 12 is performed.

More specifically, in the vacuuming as the pretreatment, the vacuum chamber 12 until the pressure P in the vacuum chamber 12 is 2 × 10 ⁻³ Pa or less, preferably 5 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa or less. The inside is evacuated by the vacuum pump described above.

  After this evacuation, a DLC powder production process as a first step is performed. That is, argon gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber 12 through the gas introduction tube 22. In this state, the vacuum chamber 12 is used as an anode, the crucible 16 is used as a cathode, and an asymmetric pulse power Ep is supplied from the pulse power supply device 18 to them. Then, the argon gas in the vacuum chamber 12 is discharged, and plasma 200 is generated in the vacuum chamber 12. Then, acetylene gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber 12 through the gas introduction pipe 22. Then, the acetylene gas is decomposed by the plasma 200, and carbon ions that are decomposition particles of the acetylene gas are generated. And this carbon ion injects into the surface of the crucible 16 which is a cathode, especially an inner wall. Thereby, the DLC powder 100 is produced on the inner wall of the crucible 16. Further, since the distal end of the gas introduction tube 22 is located at the approximate center of the opening of the crucible 16, acetylene gas ejected from the distal end of the gas introduction tube 22 is directly introduced into the crucible 16. Thereby, the production efficiency, for example, the production speed of the DLC powder 100 on the inner wall of the crucible 16 is improved.

  In addition, it is guessed that DLC powder 100 is produced when the following two processes advance simultaneously. First, although a DLC film is formed on the inner wall of the crucible 16, the DLC film peels off from the inner wall of the crucible 16 due to its internal stress, and this becomes the DLC powder 100. Second, carbon radicals and carbon ions, which are acetylene gas decomposition particles by the plasma 200, are recombined in the gas phase, and this is deposited as DLC powder 100 on the inner wall of the crucible 16. It is inferred that the DLC powder 100 is produced by the simultaneous progress of these two processes.

  In the DLC powder production process, magnetic field forming power is further supplied to the electromagnetic coils 28 and 30. As a result, the mirror magnetic field described above is formed in the vacuum chamber 12, and the plasma 200 is confined in the crucible 16. As a result, the density of the plasma 100 is improved, and the production speed of the DLC powder 100 on the inner wall of the crucible 16 is further improved.

  In addition, DC power Ea is supplied to the gas introduction pipe 22 from the nozzle power supply device 26. Then, the gas introduction tube 22 functions as a second anode, and electrons in the plasma 200 are drawn into the gas introduction tube 22 as the second electrode. As a result, a high-density discharge, so-called hollow anode discharge 300, is generated around the gas introduction tube 22, particularly in the vicinity of the tip of the gas introduction tube 22. By generating this hollow anode discharge 300, the decomposition efficiency of acetylene gas is improved, and as a result, the production speed of the DLC powder 100 on the inner wall of the crucible 16 is further improved.

  In addition, the gas introduction tube 22 functions as a second anode, so that the plasma 200 can be stabilized. That is, the plasma 200 is generated by supplying the asymmetric pulse power Ep to the vacuum chamber 12 as an anode and the crucible 16 as a cathode as described above. On the other hand, the DLC powder 100 produced using the plasma 200 adheres not only to the inner wall (surface) of the crucible 16 but also to the inner wall (surface) of the vacuum chamber 12. Thus, when the DLC powder 100 adheres to the surfaces of both the vacuum chamber 12 as the anode and the crucible 16 as the cathode, the surface of the vacuum chamber 12 as the anode, which is assumed to be maintained at the ground potential, in particular. When the DLC powder 100 adheres, the function as the electrode of the vacuum chamber 12 is lowered, and the plasma 200 becomes unstable. Here, as the gas introduction tube 22 functions as the second anode, as described above, electrons in the plasma 200 are drawn into the gas introduction tube 22 as the second anode. That is, the gas introduction tube 22 also functions as an electrode for generating the plasma 200. Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of the plasma 200 is maintained and the said plasma 200 is stabilized. By stabilizing the plasma 200 in this manner, it becomes possible to manufacture the DLC powder 100 over a long period of time, which in turn makes it possible to manufacture a large amount of the DLC powder 100, in other words, a large amount of OLC that is the final target. Production becomes possible.

  Furthermore, the heater 20 is supplied with electric power for heating the heater 20 so that the temperature of the inner wall of the crucible 16, that is, the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 is controlled. However, if the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 is too high, hydrogen radicals or hydrogen ions, which are acetylene gas decomposition particles generated by the plasma 200, react with the DLC powder 100, and the DLC powder 100 is gasified. Thereby, there exists a possibility that the preparation speed of DLC powder 100 may fall. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 and the production speed of the DLC powder 100. 3 shows that the flow rate of argon gas is 50 mL / min, the flow rate of acetylene gas is 300 mL / min, the pressure P in the vacuum chamber 12 is 3 Pa, the frequency of the asymmetric pulse power Ep is 100 kHz, and the asymmetric pulse power Ep is This is an actual measurement result of the relationship when the duty ratio is 30%, the average voltage value Vp of the asymmetric pulse power Ep is −500 V, the voltage value Va of the DC power Ea is +30 V, and the magnetic field in the crucible 16 is 5 mT.

  As can be seen from FIG. 3, when the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 is approximately 300 ° C. or less, the production speed of the DLC powder 100 is about 8 g / h, which is a level at which mass production can be realized. However, when the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 exceeds 300 ° C., the production speed of the DLC powder 100 is extremely reduced. In particular, the production speed when the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 is 700 ° C. is 3.4 g / h, which is less than half that when the production temperature is 300 ° C. or less. Therefore, it is important that the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 is controlled to 300 ° C. or less, preferably within the range of 100 ° C. to 300 ° C.

  After the DLC powder production process as the first step is performed in such a manner, the DLC-OLC conversion process as the second step is subsequently performed. That is, the supply of magnetic field forming power to the electromagnetic coils 28 and 30 is stopped. At the same time, the supply of the DC power Ea to the gas introduction pipe 22 is stopped, and the supply of the asymmetric pulse power Ep to the crucible 16 is stopped. Further, the introduction of argon gas and acetylene gas into the vacuum chamber 12 through the gas introduction pipe 22 is stopped. The supply of the heater heating power to the heater 20 may be as it is or may be stopped. Then, the vacuum chamber 12 is evacuated again.

  After this evacuation, only argon gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber 12 through the gas introduction tube 22. And the inside of the vacuum chamber 12 is made into the said argon gas atmosphere by introduction | transduction of this argon gas. At this time, the pressure P in the vacuum chamber 12 is, for example, 10 Pa. In this state, the temperature of the inner wall of the crucible 16 is heated to 1600 ° C. by the heater 20. Thereby, the DLC powder 100 in the crucible 16 is converted into OLC. This DLC-OLC conversion process is performed over, for example, 30 minutes. Then, after the DLC-OLC conversion process, a post process for taking out the completed OLC to the outside of the vacuum chamber 12 is performed.

  That is, as post-processing, the supply of heater heating power to the heater 20 is stopped. At the same time, the supply of argon gas into the vacuum chamber 12 through the gas introduction tube 22 is stopped. Further, the pressure P in the vacuum chamber 12 is gradually returned to the same level as the atmospheric pressure. Then, a cooling period is set for an appropriate time, for example, 10 minutes to 30 minutes. Then, the inside of the vacuum chamber 12 is opened to the atmosphere, and the OLC is taken out from the vacuum chamber 12 together with the crucible 16. This is post-processing, and a series of OLC manufacturing processes including the post-processing is completed. The OLC taken out together with the crucible 16 is recovered by an applicable recovery means such as a brush.

The OLC produced in this way is transmitted using a transmission electron microscope (Transmission
When observed with an electron microscope (TEM), an image as shown in FIG. 4 was obtained. In FIG. 4, a portion surrounded by a white broken circle indicates an OLC. That is, from FIG. 4, the existence of OLC is recognized. In the OLC shown in FIG. 4, when the DLC powder 100 as a raw material just before the OLC is produced (that is, in the DLC powder production process as the first step), the production temperature of the DLC powder 100 is 200 ° C. Otherwise, the conditions are the same as those in FIG. 3 described above.

  Here, when the DLC powder 100 which is the raw material immediately before the OLC was also observed with a transmission electron microscope, an image as shown in FIG. 5 was obtained. In FIG. 5, the presence of OLC is recognized in a portion surrounded by a white broken-line circle. That is, from FIG. 5, it was confirmed that a small amount of OLC was also produced in the DLC powder 100. In other words, when the DLC powder 100 is heated at 1600 ° C. (that is, by performing the DLC-OLC conversion process as the second step), the DLC powder 100 can be reliably converted to OLC. confirmed.

  Further, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed on the OLC. The result is shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, a solid curve L1 indicates the analysis result of the OLC. The other curves L2 to L5 are the analysis results of the comparative control substances. Specifically, the alternate long and short dash line curve L2 shows the analysis result of the OLC obtained by heating the DLC powder 100 at 1000 ° C. in the DLC-OLC conversion process as the second step. A two-dot chain line curve L3 shows an analysis result of the DLC powder 100 which is a raw material immediately before the OLC. Further, a long dashed curve L4 shows the analysis result of DNP, which is a starting material in the above-described prior art. A short dashed curve L5 shows an analysis result of OLC produced by heating DNP at 1600 ° C. in the related art.

  As can be seen from FIG. 6, in any of the curves L1 to L5, a peak is seen at an angle near 43 degrees. This peak around 43 degrees means the presence of a diamond component. And in curves L1-L3 and L5 other than the curve (long broken line) L4 which shows the analysis result of DNP, a peak is seen also at 26 degree vicinity. In particular, paying attention to the curve (solid line) L1 indicating the analysis result of the OLC according to the present embodiment and the curve (short dashed line) L5 indicating the analysis result of the OLC according to the conventional technique, the 26 degrees in these curves L1 and L5 Nearby peaks are prominent. This is exactly the presence of OLC. That is, it is recognized from the result of the X-ray diffraction analysis that the OLC is produced according to this embodiment.

  In addition, in curve (solid line) L2 which shows the analysis result of OLC obtained by heating DLC powder 100 at 1000 ° C compared with curve (solid line) L1 which shows the analysis result of OLC by this embodiment The peak around 26 degrees is small. Although the DLC powder 100 can be converted to OLC by heating the DLC powder 100 at 1000 ° C., the conversion efficiency is low. In other words, at a heating temperature of 1000 ° C., the DLC powder 100 is converted to OLC. It means that it cannot be reliably converted (that is, the heating temperature is insufficient). Also, in the curve (two-dot chain line) L3 indicating the analysis result of the DLC powder 100, there is a slight peak near 26 degrees, as described with reference to FIG. This means that OLC is present. The reason why the peak near 26 degrees is not observed in the curve (long broken line) L4 indicating the analysis result of DNP is because there is no OLC in the DNP.

  In addition, Raman spectroscopic analysis was performed on the OLC according to the present embodiment. The result is shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, a solid curve L11 indicates the analysis result of the OLC. The other curves L12 and L13 are the results of analysis of comparative control substances. Specifically, a dashed-dotted line curve L12 shows an analysis result of OLC obtained by heating the DLC powder 100 at 1000 ° C. in the DLC-OLC conversion process as the second step. A short dashed curve L13 shows an analysis result of the OLC produced by heating DNP at 1600 ° C. in the prior art.

As it can be seen from FIG. 7, for any of the curves L11～L3, Raman shift and a so-called D band near 1340 cm ^-1, and the so-called G band near 1580 cm ^-1, consistent. In particular, when attention is paid to a curve (solid line) L11 indicating an OLC analysis result according to the present embodiment and a curve (short broken line) L13 indicating an OLC analysis result according to the conventional technique, these curves L11 and L13 indicate the D band. And the G band in general. This also means the presence of OLC. In addition, about curve (dot-dash line) L12 which shows the analysis result of OLC obtained by heating DLC powder 100 at 1000 degreeC, there is some deviation compared with other curves L11 and L13. This also means that DLC powder 100 cannot be reliably converted to OLC at a heating temperature of 1000 ° C.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, an OLC can be produced using acetylene gas as a starting material. Acetylene gas is extremely cheap compared to DNP as a starting material in the above-described prior art. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to produce an OLC at an extremely low cost as compared with the conventional technique.

  In this embodiment, acetylene gas is used as a starting material, but the present invention is not limited to this. Other hydrocarbon gases such as methane gas, ethylene gas, and benzene gas may be employed. Moreover, the hydrocarbon gas vaporized from alcohol may be employ | adopted. However, for methane gas, it was confirmed by experiments that the production speed of the DLC powder 100 is slower than that of acetylene gas, and specifically, only about 1/5 of the production speed when the acetylene gas is employed can be obtained. . The same applies to ethylene gas. As for benzene gas, since the benzene is originally liquid, it is necessary to vaporize the benzene gas. In addition, when benzene gas is employed, it may be liquefied again in the vacuum pump, and the exhaust efficiency of the vacuum pump is reduced. Moreover, since benzene gas has toxicity and carcinogenicity, its harmful effect is great. Since alcohol is also a liquid, the cost including its vaporization equipment is high. Overall, acetylene gas is the most suitable starting material from the viewpoints of the production speed, cost, ease of handling, ease of procurement, safety, etc. of the DLC powder 100.

  Further, in the DLC powder manufacturing process as the first step, the asymmetric pulse power Ep is adopted as the discharge power, but instead, for example, a sine wave high frequency power having a frequency of 13.56 MHz is adopted. Good. In any case, in order to prevent charge-up, it is important that AC power is adopted as the discharging power. However, when high-frequency power is employed, an impedance matching unit for impedance matching between the high-frequency power supply device serving as the power supply means for discharging and the load side including the crucible 16 is provided. Therefore, the configuration of the entire apparatus including the impedance matching unit becomes complicated and the cost increases accordingly. Further, as described above, since the frequency, duty ratio, and average voltage value Vp of the asymmetric pulse power Ep can be adjusted, the asymmetric pulse power Ep is more flexible than the high-frequency power and can easily cope with various situations. Therefore, as the discharge power, the asymmetric pulse power Ep is more preferable than the high frequency power.

  In addition, as a method for exciting the plasma 200, a so-called self-discharge type (or “cold cathode type”) excitation method is employed, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, other excitation methods such as a high-frequency plasma CVD method, a microwave plasma CVD method, an ECR (Electron Cyclotron Resonance) plasma CVD method, and a hot cathode PIG (Penning Ionization Gauge) plasma CVD method may be employed.

  In the DLC-OLC conversion process as the second step, a so-called heater heating method in which the DLC powder 100 is heated by the heater 20 is employed, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, other heating methods such as an infrared lamp heating method, a high frequency induction heating method, an electron beam irradiation heating method, and a plasma heating method may be employed. In any case, it is important that the DLC powder 100 can be heated to 700 ° C to 2000 ° C, preferably 1600 ° C to 2000 ° C. Although omitted in the above description, it has been confirmed by experiments that the DLC powder 100 can be converted to OLC at a heating temperature of 700 ° C. or higher. However, as described above, the conversion efficiency from the DLC powder 100 to the OLC is improved as the heating temperature is higher. In addition, the heating time (that is, the duration of the DLC-OLC conversion process) does not greatly affect the conversion efficiency, and a constant conversion efficiency (depending on the heating temperature) can be obtained if it is approximately 20 minutes or longer. Confirmed by experiments.

  Furthermore, in the DLC-OLC conversion process as the second step, the inside of the vacuum chamber 12 is an argon gas atmosphere, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the atmosphere may be other inert gas such as neon (Ne) gas or xenon (Xe) gas. Further, the DLC-OLC conversion process may be performed in a vacuum, not in an inert gas atmosphere.

  In the DLC powder production process as the first step described above, other inert gas such as neon gas or xenon gas may be employed as the discharge gas instead of argon gas.

  Moreover, the DLC powder preparation process as a 1st step and the DLC-OLC conversion process as a 2nd step may be implemented by a separate apparatus. That is, an apparatus for performing the DLC powder preparation process and an apparatus for performing the DLC-OLC conversion process are provided separately, and the DLC powder 100 manufactured by the DLC powder preparation processing apparatus is the DLC powder. -Moved to OLC conversion processor, where it may be converted to OLC. Further, the DLC powder preparation process and the DLC-OLC conversion process may be continuously performed by a so-called in-line method.

Claims (12)

DLC powder production process for producing DLC powder by plasma CVD method using hydrocarbon gas as material gas,
A conversion process of converting the DLC powder into onion-like carbon by heating the DLC powder produced in the DLC powder production process in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere;
A method for producing onion-like carbon. The hydrocarbon gas is acetylene gas.
A method for producing onion-like carbon according to claim 1. The DLC powder preparation process is as follows:
The inside of the container is included by supplying AC discharge power to the vacuum tank and the container using a vacuum tank connected to a reference potential and an opening-shaped container installed in the vacuum tank as a pair of electrodes. A plasma generation process for generating plasma in the vacuum chamber;
A gas introduction process for introducing the hydrocarbon-based gas into the vacuum chamber;
A temperature control process for controlling the temperature in the container so that the temperature in the container does not become higher than 300 ° C .;
including,
A method for producing onion-like carbon according to claim 1 or 2. In the gas introduction process, the hydrocarbon gas is introduced into the vacuum tank through a gas introduction pipe insulated from the vacuum tank, and the hydrocarbon system is introduced into the vacuum tank of the gas introduction pipe. A gas outlet is located in the vicinity of the opening of the container,
The DLC powder preparation process further includes a DC power supply process for supplying a positive potential DC power with respect to the reference potential to the gas introduction pipe.
A method for producing onion-like carbon according to claim 3. The DLC powder preparation process further includes a magnetic field forming process for forming a magnetic field for confining the plasma in the container in the vacuum chamber.
A method for producing onion-like carbon according to claim 3 or 4. The above conversion process is
A conversion environment forming process in which the inside of the vacuum chamber is the vacuum or the inert gas atmosphere;
A heating process in which the DLC powder is heated at 700 ° C. to 2000 ° C. in the vacuum chamber in the vacuum or the inert gas atmosphere;
including,
A method for producing onion-like carbon according to any one of claims 3 to 5. DLC powder production means for producing DLC powder by a plasma CVD method using a hydrocarbon-based gas as a material gas;
Conversion means for converting the DLC powder into onion-like carbon by heating the DLC powder produced by the DLC powder production means in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere;
A device for producing onion-like carbon. The hydrocarbon gas is acetylene gas.
The onion-like carbon producing apparatus according to claim 7. A vacuum chamber connected to a reference potential;
An opening-shaped container installed in the vacuum chamber;
Comprising
The DLC powder preparation means is:
Plasma generating means for generating plasma in the vacuum chamber including the inside of the vessel by supplying AC discharge power to the vacuum vessel and the vessel using the vacuum vessel and the vessel as a pair of electrodes,
Gas introduction means for introducing the hydrocarbon-based gas into the vacuum chamber;
Temperature control means for controlling the temperature in the container so that the temperature in the container does not become higher than 300 ° C .;
including,
The device for producing onion-like carbon according to claim 7 or 8. The gas introduction means includes a gas introduction pipe that is insulated from the vacuum chamber,
The hydrocarbon-based gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber through the gas introduction pipe,
The gas introduction pipe is provided so as to position the outlet of the hydrocarbon-based gas into the vacuum chamber in the vicinity of the opening of the container,
The DLC powder preparation means further includes a DC power supply means for supplying a positive potential DC power based on the reference potential to the gas introduction pipe,
The onion-like carbon producing apparatus according to claim 9. The DLC powder preparation means further includes a magnetic field forming means for forming a magnetic field for confining the plasma in the container in the vacuum chamber.
The onion-like carbon production apparatus according to claim 9 or 10. The conversion means is
A conversion environment forming means for setting the inside of the vacuum chamber to the vacuum or the inert gas atmosphere;
Heating means for heating the DLC powder at 700 ° C. to 2000 ° C. in the vacuum chamber in the vacuum or the inert gas atmosphere;
including,
The device for producing onion-like carbon according to any one of claims 9 to 11.